DCLM Daily Manna 8th September 2020 [Tuesday] – Avoid Bad Upbringing
Topic: “Avoid Bad Upbringing” By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi
DCLM Daily Manna Key Verse: Ezekiel 19:3 (NIV)
“She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man-eater.”
DCLM Daily Manna Text: Ezekiel 18:1-18 (NIV)
1 “Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel
2 and say: “ ‘What a lioness was your mother among the lions! She lay down among them and reared her cubs.
3 She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man-eater.
4 The nations heard about him, and he was trapped in their pit. They led him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
5 “ ‘When she saw her hope unfulfilled, her expectation gone, she took another of her cubs and made him a strong lion.
6 He prowled among the lions, for he was now a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man-eater.
7 He broke down their strongholds and devastated their towns. The land and all who were in it were terrified by his roaring.
8 Then the nations came against him, those from regions round about. They spread their net for him, and he was trapped in their pit.
9 With hooks they pulled him into a cage and brought him to the king of Babylon. They put him in prison, so his roar was heard no longer on the mountains of Israel.
10 “ ‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyardplanted by the water; it was fruitful and full of branches because of abundant water.
11 Its branches were strong, fit for a ruler’s scepter. It towered high above the thick foliage, conspicuous for its height and for its many branches.
12 But it was uprooted in fury and thrown to the ground. The east wind made it shrivel, it was stripped of its fruit; its strong branches withered and fire consumed them.
13 Now it is planted in the desert, in a dry and thirsty land.
14 Fire spread from one of its main branches and consumed its fruit. No strong branch is left on it fit for a ruler’s scepter.’ “This is a lament and is to be used as a lament.”
DCLM DAILY MANNA FOR TODAY 8TH SEPTEMBER 2020 – AVOID BAD UPBRINGING
When John Wesley was in college, his mother one day wrote him: “If you are tempted to be judge of the lawfulness or the unlawfulness of a pleasure, use this rule: whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the desire of spiritual things; whatever increases the authority of your body over your mind, that thing, to you, is wickedness.”
Our text is a lamentation for the princes of Israel whose mother brought them up to be wicked. They were taught to catch the prey and devour men. This led the nation to become desolate, with the cities lying waste. Prophet Ezekiel likened the kingdom of Judah to a lioness and the kings of Judah to a lion’s whelps.
They were cruel and oppressive to their own subjects. Jerusalem was a vine, flourishing and fruitful. This vine was now destroyed, though not plucked up by the roots. She had, by wickedness, made herself tinder to the sparks of God’s wrath, so that her own branches served as fuel to burn her.
Parents should note that feeding, clothing and provision of formal education are not their only responsibilities. God expects, above all, that children be brought to Jesus. It is better to leave every other thing, if possible, until your children are brought into the kingdom of God.
The quality of your children’s lives is dependent on whatever you sow into them. It is what you sow that you will reap. The godly lifestyle and influence of parents go a long way in helping children make decisions for Christ.
If your children have already been affected by the evils of our day, assure them that all is not lost. Gently lead them to Christ and teach them scriptural ways to escape the corruptions of the world. God will crown your efforts with success.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Children are the sum of what parents contribute to their lives.
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
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